The belt lift was developed to facilitate sanding curved surfaces on a combination belt and disk sander. The flat belt surface of the combination belt and disk sander provides no concave sanding surfaces. The work easily develops facets or flat spots from the flat sanding surface. By raising the belt with a support fixed to the sander bed and running the belt over it, two sections of belt which are supported only by tension, with no rigid backing are created. By forcing the work down on the unbacked area of the belt, a concave sanding surface is achieved. The tensioning springs of the sander allow this movement of the belt by compressing when pressure is applied to the work. The facet problem is greatly reduced on work with convex curves. The contoured top surface is effective in sanding concave curves with a much longer radius than the rollers of the belt sander.